Facebook Home Android Launcher’s Future Looks Bleak

Last year there were countless rumors about a “Facebook phone.” While the social network did not build a smartphone, it did make a launcher for Android devices. It was called Facebook Home. The launcher came pre-installed on HTC First, a “Facebook phone” of sorts that was a colossal flop. Even though Facebook Home hasn’t been yanked yet there haven’t been any major updates for the past few months. A new report suggests that Facebook has actually disbanded the team of engineers that was originally attached to this project.

Citing two people familiar with the matter, the New York Times reports that the original team is no longer working on Facebook Home. It hasn’t been updated since January and it doesn’t look like one is in the works.

On the other hand, Facebook itself tells The Verge that there’s still a team at the company working on Home. The possibility exists that it might be a completely different team, one that isn’t really dedicated to the ill-fated project. Facebook had promised monthly updates for Home but there haven’t been any since January.

Facebook Home is still available for download from Google Play, though its reviews are likely to put off any potential users. The launcher was meant to put users’ Facebook activity right on the homescreen of their devices, and while initially there was a lot of buzz about it, soon after the launch we user interest evaporating.

While Facebook claims that work continues on Home, it remains to be the seen if the company decides to sunset it for good. It would no doubt be hard to win back users that have left due to a poor experience. Even